Dear Maneki Mushi, I blame you for this roller-coaster of emotions 😭 you made me go through! I missed reading mature stories that treat its darker themes seriously. I need to thank you for staying consistent with the tone of your story; it made so many scenes much more rewarding, reveals so much more intense, and character development so much more satisfying to witness.
Oh, and speaking of characters, do I need to mention how came to appreciate this colourful cast of characters you created? Just reading how they interacted with the Seren (and Seren with them), and how they interacted with each other was reminiscent of Dragon Age and Neverwinter Nights 2’s companions. The cast has great party dynamics and great banters, like in those old but gold rpgs. In my eyes, THJ has managed to capture the essence of rpg stories, with its characters, narrative writing, and beautiful story book like art that suits the aesthetic of a Hero’s Journey just perfectly.
I would want nothing more than to go into detail about the scenes and which characters made me tear up/cry, but I fear I would only end up babbling text walls of spoilers and gushy nonsense x’ ); so I'll wrap up my comment.
THJ hit all the right spots for me, that even after finishing the game, I still think about it. More people should know about it, and give it a go. You won't end up regretting it!